Building Your Own PC, Part 2: Assembly Step by Step

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Installing The Hard Disk And Floppy

We assume that you have already configured your hard disk the way you want it - single, master, or slave. The photo below shows the hard disk already fitted. As you can see, we can look right through the case here. If we had slid the motherboard tray back into position, it would have been impossible to screw the hard disk in from the left.

At the moment, we still have good access to the hard disk (bottom) and the floppy drive (top). You can see the screws for the drive on the side.

Use two screws per side on each drive. We would like to touch briefly on the topic of drive cooling, as it is quite important with the current 7,200 rpm drives. Hard disks running at 7,200 rpm can quickly reach temperatures in excess of 50°C. You should, therefore, always leave some space above them to prevent heat buildup. The power supply fan is normally powerful enough to provide adequate air circulation inside the case.

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Installing The CD-ROM Drive

Installing a CD-ROM drive is similar to installing a hard disk. First, check that the jumper configuration is correct.

CD Drive In Drive Cage.

You only get to see the metal below the decorative plastic front panel when installing your system; the case metal is actually hidden by plastic panels. The entire front section, or at least the part where the drives will be installed, is manufactured from a single, large piece of metal, in which the drive holes are then punched. For some years now, the CE norm for cases has specified this kind of metal panel, as only metal can reduce electromagnetic emissions - the processor usually being the worst offender in this area.
In practice, there are two options. If the metal knockouts are pre-stamped, you have to either take them out using metal cutters, or knock them out using force. If you have a high quality computer case, you can remove and replace these metal panels whenever you like. Check carefully to see if there is an easy way to remove these panels that will reduce the chances of your accidentally damaging one or more of them.
When we have opened up the hole, we can feed the CD-ROM drive in and screw it into place. You will need the fine-threaded type screws. Always use four screws. Be careful not to over-tighten the screws, as excess pressure can put a strain on the case that could lead to twisting. The faster a drive's rotational speed, the more serious the effect. Tighten the screws only enough to ensure that the drive is secure. Heat is a consideration with CD-ROM drives, as it is with disk drives.

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Connecting The Ribbon Cables

Your PC should now look similar to the one in our photograph. All key components, such as the motherboard, processor, RAM, graphics card, sound card, hard disk, CD-ROM and floppy, have been installed. Now it is time to connect the cables.

PC still without the cables

As you will be aware after reading Part 1, there are two main cable types: the 34-pin cable for the floppy drive and the 40-pin IDE cable (with 80 wires) for the hard disk and CD-ROM. Cables are always color-coded to show pin 1. Most drives also provide some kind of identification for pin 1. If you find that this is not the case, just remember that pin 1 is the one next to the power plug.

Ribbon cable. The markings show the direction in which the power flows. Bottom: 80-pin for hard disk. Top: 34-pin for floppy.

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Drive Power Connectors


Four-pole for 5 and 12 volts. Disk drive power connector on the right next to the ribbon cable.

Power supplies are fitted with at least five plugs for delivering power to the drives. If you need more than this, consider buying one or more splitter cables. A splitter cable provides two connectors from a single one. The corners of the plugs and sockets are keyed to ensure correct polarity.
Floppy drives have smaller plugs, which are easily recognized among the cables coming from the power supply. Finally, there is the large ATX plug that plugs into the power socket on the motherboard. ATX12 or P6 should be connected where required. The latter provides extra power for power-hungry processors, as you already learned in part 1

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Front Panel Connections

Front Panel Connections



Front panel connections: HDD LED (hard disk light), power (on/ off) switch and RESET switch in the top row. Below: mini speaker.

All motherboards group the pins that provide front panel functions at the bottom right of the board. You should find these described in the handbook that came with your motherboard. The abbreviations printed on the board itself are not particularly helpful for beginners, who may find the following short explanation of the abbreviations useful.

• SP, SPK, or SPEAK: the loudspeaker output. It has four pins.
• RS, RE, RST or RESET: connect the two-pin Reset cable here.
• PWR, PW, PW SW, PS or Power SW: power switch, the PC's on/ off switch. The plug is two-pin.
• PW LED, PWR LED or Power LED: the light-emitting diode on the front panel of the case illuminates when the computer is switched on. It is a two-pin cable.
• HD, HDD LED: these two pins connect to the cable for the hard disk activity LED.

Don't worry about polarity. The Reset and On/ Off switch will work no matter how they are connected, but the LEDs will not light up if they are connected in reverse polarity. If you can hear disk activity but the LED does not light, simply reverse the plug.
Final Check

Congratulations - you've done it! You have fitted and connected all components. Before you boot your new computer for the first time, recheck everything. It is very easy to overlook something obvious.
Consider the following:

• Motherboard jumper configuration: are the settings for the processor correct?
• Drive jumper settings: master/ slave correct?
• Are the processor, RAM modules and plug-in cards firmly seated in their sockets?
• Did you plug all the cables in? Do they all fit snugly?
• Have you tightened all the screws on the plug-in cards or fitted the clips?
• Are the drives secure?
• Have you connected the power cables to all drives?

Once you have checked all of the above, you can start your PC and install your operating system.

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